Job Discussion Forums

[may be going]

forgive the silly subject line. but what i want to know from people who have experience in both countries or know about both countries to some extent, is what you feel the biggest differences are for foreigners living in each.

i mean how would you rate each country to live and work in as a foreigner. so i guess things like food, lifestyle, things to do, friendliness of the locals, hobbies, language, stress factors.

anything you'd like to comment on.

i have uni experience in korea but have an opportunity to work at uni in japan. i'm not in either at the moment but just trying to decide bewtween the two. would like some insight from those who know both.

i don't need info on work so much coz i'm pretty aware of that. more lifestyle and things outside work.

anything will be appreciated.

[Glenski]

Take this one with a grain of salt, but it does compare Japan and Korea (as well as Taiwan).

http://seamonkey.ed.asu.edu/~jonb/

[may be going]

thanks glenski. some of the links were useful just to give an overall perspective.

people talk about the outrageously high prices of public transport in japan, what about buying a cheap used car? any better?

[spidey]

Hello may be going,

About the used car...

There are plenty of them around. From the very low priced to the very high, depending on what you want. The cost of owning a car can also vary. Right now gas prices are much higher than they were about 2 years ago. I am currently on my second vehicle. If you buy a car that needs relatively low maintenance, then you should be ok.(Toyota, Honda) You have to also consider the price of insurance for your vehicle. All things considered, it might work out to be about the same cost as public transportation . It really depends on how much daily traveling you plan on doing. Having your own car can be very, very convenient. Sometimes too much so.

Side note...

I also lived in S. Korea for 2 years before coming to Japan. Both places are great and they each have their own ups and downs. The people in S.Korea as you know are very "in your face"...on the other hand the people here in Japan are more "saving face." Extroverts compared to introverts. Both peoples though are very kind and sincere.

Good luck

[Sweetsee]

I just purchased a used car with a sticker price of 350,000 yen. When you add the insurance, shaken and what not it added up to 480,000. It's a 10 year old vehicle. I bought it off a lot in my neighborhood but if you look around you can find better deals.

[Gordon]

2 years ago, I paid 65,000 yen for an 8 year car (70,000 km). It still had 8 months of shaken on it. No problems, but it isn't much to look at. Still, it is a reliable thing and last year it passed through shaken (45,000) without any problems.
When looking for a cheap car, get one with yellow plates. They're cheaper to insure and run.

For me, I couldn't get by without a car. I have a 15 min. commute instead of a 90 minute one.

[may be going]

what about driving in japan?

in korea you wouldn't get me to even laugh at the idea of driving. aside from the fact they drive on the wrong side of the road it is absolute chaos on those roads. korea is stressful enough without the drama of driving to contend with.

are japan's roads a bit more sanitised?

[Glenski]

may be going,

Wrong side of the road? I'll take that tongue in cheek. In Japan, people drive on the left side. It's the correct side for this country. So, if you come from a country that naturally drives that way, the basic skills themselves are not a big problem. (I'm from the USA, so getting used to driving on the left has been a challenge.)

Finding your way around is often confusing because of the kanji on signs. Inner city signs and some highway signs add English, but I wouldn't count on it all the time. And, some signs are just plain different. Example: In the USA, a stop sign is octagonal and red. Not in Japan.

Generally, Japanese drivers are not considered to be safe ones. There is a huge space between the crosswalk and the next street, plus a few second delay after signal lights change, to facilitate safer traffic conditions at intersections, but many J drivers still blow through the lights. Many park just about anywhere they please, any TIME they please.

By the way, you can't own a car in Japan without insurance and without a parking space. So, as others have already noted, the mere cost of a car itself is only the starting point.

[may be going]

what exactly does a parking space entail and what does it cost?

[Gordon]

[may be going]

parking is more expensive than living? you csn't find somewhere down the road?

[Gordon]

[Glenski]

Parking depends on what part of the city you live in. Could be 5000-8000 yen/month or 10,000-20,000 yen/month. Depends on what city, too.

The police will come around when you buy a car just to check that you have a parking space within 3 km of your home.

[Sweetsee]

I live in Saitama prefecture, about an hour's drive from Tokyo. In order to purchase a car legally you must prove you have a parking space. I paid 7000 yen for the first month and then canceled it and park at my school.
You would think that you could just park your car down the road. The first night I had my car I made the mistake of parking around the back of our place and got a 30,000 yen parking ticket, ouch!
Across the street from our place is a shop with a huge parking lot. Sometimes when I come home late and lazy or if it's raining or sometimes just by accident I leave the car in their lot. I can only imagine the ire I draw from the neighbors. In fact, our buildings parking area has a waiting list and there is one space where I noticed the owner leaves early in the morning and returns late in the evening most work days. Well, I am in and out all day and I used to pull into their space for a few minutes at a time, never more. One day, I had been parked there a little longer than usual and found a huge sign in red taped to the windsield saying how everyone was pissed off about me. Yet, another indication of the underlying current of...I don't know what.
The most annoying driving habits I find are widespread tailgating and failure to yield for pedestrians.

[may be going]

failure to yield to pedestrians? i thought i could escape that by going to japan instead of korea.

say it ain't so oh please oh please